The Commonwealth Secretariat has launched a publication, A Commonwealth Guide to Case Management, that seeks to help courts manage civil cases more efficiently. The guide, produced by the Secretariat’s Office of Civil and Criminal Justice Reform (OCCJR), is designed for practitioners, judicial officers and policymakers. It provides best practice and practical advice to improve court administration and proceedings.
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A guide aims to accelerate improved access to justice across the Commonwealth
Main page for this area of work
A Commonwealth team has arrived to observe Ghana’s general elections. They began by observing the special vote, which allows registered members of the security agencies, media and electoral officials to cast their ballots ahead of the election scheduled for 7 December 2024.
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Commonwealth observers start work on Ghana’s election
The Handbook on Designing and Implementing RIA Systems is intended to assist Commonwealth governments in designing and implementing programmes of Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) across multiple regulatory institutions. It identifies major risk factors that have led to failure of RIA programmes in other countries and suggests options that countries should consider to reduce the risks of failure. It is impossible to reduce risks to zero, but this Handbook will help increase the probability that RIA programmes will, in the end, improve the quality of government policies.
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Handbook on Designing and Implementing Regulatory Impact Assessment Systems
Commonwealth leaders are being urged to work harder to get rid of the barriers and biases that continue to hold back women and girls in the 56 member countries.
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Commonwealth leaders urged to work harder to leave no woman behind
Fourteen Commonwealth African countries were trained last week to improve reporting on their human rights obligations, including the protection of basic economic, social and cultural rights for all.
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African countries ‘better equipped’ to report progress on human rights obligations
The purpose of A Commonwealth Guide to Case Management is to provide principled and practical guidance to the judiciary and to responsible policy-makers on justice modernisation and case management.
The objective of this Guide is to inform forward-looking best practices through a comparative analysis of member countries and to soberly align efficiency with the enduring constitutional values underlying the administration of justice.
Without a doubt, nimble, well-designed case management systems, alongside transformative technology, not only facilitate and support effective court proceedings, but also allow for the modernisation of justice.
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A Commonwealth Guide to Case Management
The objective of this Guide is to inform forward-looking best practices through a comparative analysis of member countries and to soberly align efficiency with the enduring constitutional values underlying the administration of justice.
Without a doubt, nimble, well-designed case management systems, alongside transformative technology, not only facilitate and support effective court proceedings, but also allow for the modernisation of justice.
The 65th Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) met in New York yesterday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly to discuss developments in member states.
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65th Meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group
A Commonwealth Observer Group (COG), led by His Excellency Danny Faure, former President of Seychelles, will observe Sri Lanka's Presidential Election, which will be held on 21 September 2024.
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Commonwealth to observe Sri Lanka’s presidential election
Heads of anti-corruption agencies in the Commonwealth Caribbean concluded their annual conference in Nassau, The Bahamas, last week with a unanimous pledge to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) in the fight against corruption.
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Caribbean anti-corruption chiefs endorse AI solutions to tackle illicit financial flows
10 June 2024 to 10 June 2024
(BST - British Summer Time)
Event
The Commonwealth Secretariat will host the opening day of the Africa Arbitration Academy at its headquarters in London on 10 June 2024.
The heads of anti-corruption agencies from 21 African member states of the Commonwealth are meeting in Accra, Ghana, from 6 May to 11 May 2024, for a significant conference aimed at enhancing regional anti-corruption efforts.
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Landmark anti-corruption conference in Ghana
The security and integrity of computer systems, digital data and networks have grown to be major concerns for states, organisations and people as a result of the development of the information society. Such concerns arise from the fact that malicious acts, such as ransomware, which target computer systems and their networks, have the potential to cause harm to individuals, countries and the global economy. Accordingly, many states and intergovernmental organisations across the world have taken steps to establish legal measures to criminalise and deter malicious acts that affect the integrity, confidentiality, availability and security of digital data and computer systems.
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Commonwealth Countries' Cybercrime Laws: An Overview
Leading competition authorities across the world have attempted in recent years to understand how companies operating within the digital space can use data to their competitive advantage and how this can distort competition and cause consumer detriment, but also how data protection laws themselves affect competition in digital markets.2 However, although the digital economy in the CSME is growing, there have been no similar attempts to understand these issues in the region.
The study approaches this issue from two perspectives. First, it provides an up-to-date overview of the international developments in this area and benchmarks the current CSME legislative framework against these international precedents. Second, the study also collects and presents baseline information on data protection and privacy in the region, to determine whether the legislative and regulatory frameworks in CSME member countries can address modern competition, consumer protection and international trade concerns.
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Impact of Data Protection and Privacy on Regulating Competition and Consumer Protection for Digital Markets within CSME
The study approaches this issue from two perspectives. First, it provides an up-to-date overview of the international developments in this area and benchmarks the current CSME legislative framework against these international precedents. Second, the study also collects and presents baseline information on data protection and privacy in the region, to determine whether the legislative and regulatory frameworks in CSME member countries can address modern competition, consumer protection and international trade concerns.
In all countries, and at all levels of government, performance seems to lie in the eyes of the beholder. Different individuals looking at the same set of facts come to widely different conclusions. Divergent views and opinions about appropriate policies and their related programmes and projects are not only understandable, but a sine qua non of a healthy democratic system. However, divergent views about the performance of a government – implementation of policies, programmes and projects – are much harder to reconcile for lack of a fact-based consensus.
The private sector, on the other hand, does not face this problem. If a private sector company presents its financial statement and claims that it has made US$350 million profit, we accept it on its face value – not because we trust them blindly, but because those financial statements are prepared using the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). These statements, in turn, are audited by an external auditor to ensure that the statements were indeed prepared using those principles. If they do not stand up to an audit, then there are consequences, such as a loss of confidence by investors, often expressed as a sharp drop in the price of publicly traded shares.
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Towards Generally Accepted Performance Principles (GAPP)
The private sector, on the other hand, does not face this problem. If a private sector company presents its financial statement and claims that it has made US$350 million profit, we accept it on its face value – not because we trust them blindly, but because those financial statements are prepared using the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). These statements, in turn, are audited by an external auditor to ensure that the statements were indeed prepared using those principles. If they do not stand up to an audit, then there are consequences, such as a loss of confidence by investors, often expressed as a sharp drop in the price of publicly traded shares.
The Commonwealth Secretary-General, the Rt Hon Patricia Scotland KC, has echoed the concern of His Excellency Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, the President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, after President Nicolás Maduro of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela promulgated the Organic Law for the Defence of Essequiba on 3 April 2024.
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Statement by the Commonwealth Secretary-General in support of Guyana after Venezuela’s recent legislation on the April 3rd Organic Law on Essequibo
The 2024 Commonwealth Law Ministers Meeting opened in Zanzibar yesterday with calls for stronger action to ensure that access to justice becomes a reality for all 2.5 billion Commonwealth citizens.
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Commonwealth law ministers meeting opens with calls for stronger action on people-centred access to justice
4 March 2024 to 8 March 2024
(GMT)
Event
The biennial Commonwealth Law Ministers Meeting (CLMM) will take place in Zanzibar from 4 to 8 March 2024.
Judges from Ghana, Malawi and Zambia have praised the Commonwealth Secretariat’s training workshops, aimed at enhancing their skills in handling cybercrime cases.
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Commonwealth workshops train 150 African judges in handling cybercrime cases
The Commonwealth Secretary-General the Rt. Hon. Patricia Scotland, KC has expressed deep concern at the 21 September decision of the Venezuelan National Assembly to undertake a referendum on the status of the Essequibo region, part of the sovereign territory of the Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.
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Statement by the Commonwealth Secretary-General on the escalation of the Guyana-Venezuela border dispute
The negative effects of climate change on nature and humankind are wide-ranging and multifaceted, and it is accepted that the most vulnerable communities, who have contributed the least to the causation of climate change, are likely to be disproportionately affected by these adverse effects. It is insufficient for only certain countries to take action to mitigate the causes of climate change; rather it is urgent that a global effort is mobilised.
The Paris Agreement, which all 56 Commonwealth member countries have ratified, commits signatories to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Signatories to the Paris Agreement are required to submit nationally determined contributions (NDC) every five years containing mitigation commitments for the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To meet these commitments, it is necessary for Commonwealth member countries to put in place carefully considered legal frameworks and policies to reduce their emissions and limit the pace of climate change.
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Commonwealth Carbon Tax Model Law
The Paris Agreement, which all 56 Commonwealth member countries have ratified, commits signatories to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Signatories to the Paris Agreement are required to submit nationally determined contributions (NDC) every five years containing mitigation commitments for the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To meet these commitments, it is necessary for Commonwealth member countries to put in place carefully considered legal frameworks and policies to reduce their emissions and limit the pace of climate change.
Applications are now open for citizens of Commonwealth countries in Africa to join the prestigious Commonwealth Africa Cyber Fellowship programme.
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Applications open for Commonwealth Africa Cyber Fellowships
The Commonwealth Secretariat recently hosted a successful symposium with Lesotho judges and senior magistrates on the Latimer House Principles in Maseru, Lesotho.
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Commonwealth Secretariat conducts inaugural Latimer House Dialogues Symposium in Lesotho
This book communicates a major research exercise spanning six Commonwealth member states on the African continent. Its findings will likely have resonance much farther afield within, and globally beyond, the Commonwealth. Its mixed-methods approach includes rich and insightful qualitative research and detailed and illuminating quantitative enquiry.
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Enterprise Risk Management as a Strategic Tool in Improving Governance
The Commonwealth Secretariat, the Government of Mauritius and the Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry jointly hosted a webinar this week to help companies promote and protect human rights within all business activity.
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Commonwealth and Mauritian Government host webinar to help businesses protect human rights
The Commonwealth Ministerial Group on Guyana was convened in New York on 17 September 2023 by the Commonwealth Secretary-General, The Rt Hon Patricia Scotland KC, in accordance with a mandate given by the Commonwealth Heads of Government to monitor “developments in respect of the existing controversy between Guyana and Venezuela.”
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Statement - The Commonwealth supports Guyana’s territorial integrity and calls for the respect of the judicial process underway